Get Set for Meteor Shower This Evening

(Newser)
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If you're a fan of skygazing—but not early mornings—you could be in for a treat tonight. The annual Draconid meteor shower will be at its peak and while it doesn't tend to be the most spectacular event of its kind, it is unusual because it is best viewed just after sunset, not before dawn like most meteor showers, USA Today explains. Astronomers say the intensity of the yearly shower—caused by the Earth passing through debris left by the Giacobini-Zinner comet—is tough to predict, but some years can see thousands of "falling stars" per hour. This year is not expected to be among the most intense, but it's a good year to watch because the waxing moon won't reflect enough light to ruin the view. (Read more Draconid meteor shower stories.)

Turned out not that good. Sometimes dems the breaks. But hate to miss the big one. I've seen my share of phenomenon while hiking in the rural trails of our nation. Incidents that a happened as a kid stay with me. Most of all the late 70's era Soviet spy satellites that doted the sky with the polar trajectory. Little did I know that all those years we tracked them, they were manned. They were looking down, taking pics, and twixing them back to Earth. Then the USA sent up high resolution unmanned birds and we on-upped Russia again. But the sky was just beautiful back then and its harder to see it today as you have to go out farther than we ever had to go back then.

OrneryPup

Oct 8, 2013 2:28 AM CDT

I liked it better when such things were called shooting or falling stars, and you could wish upon one.